Showing posts with label university speech codes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label university speech codes. Show all posts

Monday, December 30, 2019

Hate speech and hate crimes

I for one have never liked the terms "hate speech" and "hate crime" (protected characteristics of race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability). Due to our First Amendment, hate speech laws don't fair well, but colleges are big on "speech codes" and requiring SJW special retraining camps for incoming students and faculty. The more race relations improve, the narrower academe defines the crime so it can add to its administration.

Unless a white man is a Jew or gay or transitioning to female, who is ever charged with a hate crime for attacking him? For race, it only seems to be certain races. If there are two different African immigrant groups in a Columbus high school, who charges them with hate crimes when they attack each other? Would a Columbus juvenile court judge know that one group was slaves of the other 300 years ago? I received a notice of a crime from OSU a few days ago and it made a point of not mentioning the offender's race. Something the whole culture seems obsessed with, yet can't be used to identify a criminal!

What do these laws/codes add to bad language and violent crime except a racial component to discuss on the evening news?  If black rappers can say the words, why can't a white radio host? If a black man robs or terrorizes a black family, why is that not a hate crime, if it is called a hate crime when a white or Hispanic criminal does it? Almost all crime victims (except Asians) are within same groups. Based on the 2018 Bureau of Justice survey, the offender was of the same race or ethnicity as the victim in 70% of violent incidents involving black victims, 62% of those involving white victims, 45% of those involving Hispanic victims, and 24% of those involving Asian victims. Lesbians against Lesbians. Gays against gays. No one commits a crime out of love (although some celebrity abortion advocates claim to).

Hate crime legislation took hold with the Civil Rights movement in the 60s, then a special law for violence against women but not men, then sex and peculiar identities were added. NY is considering adding more on top of what we already have just for anti-Semitism. Now all sorts of quasi legal threats are made if a religion disallows marriage of same sex because it violates the Bible and all of history, or if an employer doesn't recognize the feelings of men who believe they are women.

And yet Democrats, the Left and their print, internet and social media are allowed to call Conservatives and their president all manner of nasty names on the air ways, on TV and public debate--from racist to terrorist to Nazi. They can reinvent as "hate speech" the OK sign or even the words, Make America great. I do see hate, and it's from the Left manipulating our laws intended to protect people. But they shouldn't be the only ones protected by the First Amendment.

Monday, January 07, 2019

University departments’ possible name changes

Michael Rectenwald a professor at NYU suggests in a comment on Facebook some academic department titles to replace those old, tired, worn out ones that have served to make our nation great. I was going to use the word "new," but looking back at things I was writing in the 1990s, they aren't new, just retreads. I was asked to leave a women's studies brown bag luncheon at OSU Main Library in the 90s because I am white.

"Non-English Literature, UnAmerican Studies, Gender-Changing Studies, Women's-and-the-Men-Who-Think-They're-Women Studies, African American (Affirmative Action) Studies, Political Pseudo-Science, History (and the dead white men who belong there), Foreign Languages (English), Fat (Shaming-Skinny-People) Studies, Religious (Atheism) Studies, etc."

Then each of those non-white, non-American studies departments can add their own "Diversity and Inclusion" sub-unit and further bloat the administrative staff of universities.  This is usually a two-fer and good for hiring women and minorities to raise the percentage for the department.a

Friday, November 13, 2015

University of Missouri protests spread, while delicate snowflakes melt under scrutiny

So the protests are spreading. Remember, "Don't trust anyone over 30." Jack Weinburg was my age, he came up with it, and this was a popular slogan in the 1960s. I can't believe the ignorance of the students being interviewed. Now it's gone from snowflake hurt feelings to demanding no tuition.

Neil Cavuto on Fox interviewed the most naïve student organizer yesterday.  She’s read the posters from the leftists, but apparently has never had to fill out an income tax form.  He was very polite and kind and let her hang herself with the rope of ignorance and youth.

"The Million Student March is a movement for an equitable and fair system of education," Mullen told Cavuto. "The three core demands of the National Day Of Action are free public college, cancellation of student debt, and a fifteen dollar minimum wage for people who work on the campus."

Kelley Mullen and her organization seem pretty good at making demands. Explaining how it'll all be paid for? Not so much.

"So how's that going to be paid?" Cavuto casually asked.

"Ummm...great question...I mean...so...," Mullen stammered.

Cavuto proceeded to demolish Mullen's claims that "the 1%" would be footing the bill for her organization's demands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmji36q8E4o

One student I listened to being interviewed said 50% of the U.S. budget went for military (not); another said 50% of Americans were poverty level (not). They seem to be stuck on 50 percent.  Maybe it’s Common Core Math?

Defense is 19%; Medicare Medicaid 23%; Social Security 20% of the budget. About 14% of Americans are at or below poverty level although it has increased some under this administration, with $22,000 per poor person going to anti-poverty programs each year. Student loans are high and climbing because of the government tweaking which simply allows universities and colleges to raise tuition. Some students seem to think education is a right, not a privilege. We've raised a generation of numbskulls.

I haven't checked the details, but apparently the student body president of Mizzou, black and gay and homecoming king/queen, is from a wealthy Chicago family, interned with Rahm Emanuel as a community organizer, has met with President Obama, and lied about the KKK threat which has caused some of the uproar. Well, liberal college faculty and administrations are getting what they asked for the last 20-30 years. Now the movement is spreading and other college presidents are being asked to step down from colleges that have no diversity of thought.

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Really funny parody by Matt Walsh. “Someone insulted me,” fire the CEO.

http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/dear-walmart-someone-insulted-me-in-one-of-your-stores-your-ceo-must-now-resign/

Perhaps the poor melting snowflakes on the Mizzou campus could view footage of the carnage on another campus, this one in Nairobi earlier this year, of 147 students, mostly Christians who couldn't recite verses from the Koran to their Islamic killers. Mizzou protesters are apparently confused about terrorism and threats to their personal space.

 http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/03/africa/kenya-garissa-university-attack-witnesses/index.html

I saw this comment about the gay black student at Mizzou who spread the KKK rumors  (later admitted it wasn’t true) which helped get the president "fired," then had to apologize.

"Clearly, a Duke LaCrosse playing KKK member from a fraternity at UVA grabbed some U Delaware light hanging nooses and drew the poopsticka. Then dated Lena Dunham, hard. It's the only explanation that makes sense. Heads must keep rolling."

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Today’s new word is BART

Actually it's an acronym. It used to be BART meant "Bay Area Rapid Transit" at least to me. Here in Columbus it means "Bias Assessment Response Team," and if the same nonsense weren't cropping up on most college campuses, I’d suggest you send your hard earned tuition dollars to another school.

No crime committed, no state law violated, nor university policy or code of conduct, but. . .it can still be reported if someone suspects the perp’s “motivation” and feels offended. A teaching career or a school record can all go up in smoke from an anonymous report. And what recourse does the “reported” one have? Who is the judge and jury? Imagine the twit or bureaucrat getting on this board, committee, task force. Oh the rush of power!

This is one of the most alarming things I’ve ever read on an Ohio State web site--but your school probably has one too. We are followers here in mid-Ohio, not instigators. This was definitely imported either from the northeast or California, probably after some counselor attended a mid-winter conference in a warm climate, because normally Midwesterners are a bit tougher than this mollycoddling would indicate.
    “Bias Incidents: Acts or behavior motivated by the offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, veteran status, ethnic/national origin groups or sexual-orientation group. While these acts do not necessarily rise to the level of a crime, a violation of state law, University policy, or the student code of conduct; a bias act may contribute to creating an unsafe, negative, or unwelcome environment for the victim, anyone who shares the same social identity as the victim, and/or community members of the University.”
Looking through the list of “protected elites,” on the web site, I’d say the only target of this harassment could be white, male, heterosexual Christian students, staff and faculty.

I looked through the summary and documentation of the reports--and considering it’s a campus of 50,000+ people primarily under 25 studying and discovering life within a few square miles, many of whom do the usual stupid mind altering activities college kids are known for--it’s not too shocking that most of the reports deal with language. Nothing illegal, mind you, except this poor little college kid whose parents are spending $20,000 to buy her education so she can compete in the real world is offended. Boohoo. Or, maybe it’s just a girlfriend/boyfriend thing; or a jealous rejected gay lover thing; or a crush on a faculty member that isn’t returned; or it’s a stalker who wants attention; or it's someone who doesn't think Obama can walk on water and is therefore a racist pig; or someone was reported to be "culturally insensitive." But once that report has been filed, I’m guessing it takes on a life of it’s own. And good luck getting the student/faculty record cleaned up. I wonder if any guys ever file reports on female students with potty mouths and say they find them sexually threatening and offensive. I know they sure think it.

See the case of the IUPUI janitor charged with harassment for reading a book about the KKK on his own time--and it was an anti-Klan book!